Background
Joseph Starcher was born in Letichev, Ukraine around 1902.
Joseph Starcher was born in Letichev, Ukraine around 1902.
He emigrated with his family to the United States in 1912. By the 1920s Stacher was running much of Zwillman"s gambling operations. In 1931, Stacher helped Meyer Lansky organize a conference of Jewish organized crime leaders at the Franconia Hotel, which later would see the alleged merging of the Jewish and Italian Mafia into a national crime syndicate.
Stacher continued running Mafia gambling operations until 1964, when Federal authorities arrested him for tax evasion.
While the United States government was in favor of deporting him to his native Poland, federal law prohibited deporting anyone to a communist-controlled country. However, because of the "Law of Return", Stacher was allowed citizenship in Israel and successfully immigrated there in 1965.
While living in Israel he served as the primary source of Israeli journalists Dennis Eisenberg, Uri Dan, and Eli Landau for a biography of Meyer Lansky. Stacher continued living in Israel until his death.
Stacher died, according to some reports in a Munich, West Germany, hotel room on February 28, 1977.
His death was reported as a heart attack and his body shipped back to Israel. He was buried secretly and the nameplate of his grave was altered to hide his burial site.